Proposals for nationality law change presented

(CS) Justice Minister François Biltgen has presented plans for a reform of the nationality law, with changes to the residency and linguistic clauses.

Some of the main points of the bill include:

Linguistic skills: The language test criteria (B1 for oral comprehension and A2 for verbal expression) will be upheld. However, the test can be waived for those living in Luxembourg for over 20 years and for those who have completed at least seven years of schooling in the Grand Duchy at an institution applying the Luxembourg public education programmes.

Residency: The current clause of seven consecutive years of residency in the Grand Duchy will be lowered to five years, and the time no longer needs to be spent in Luxembourg consecutively. Applicants born in Luxembourg or resident in Luxembourg before their 18th birthday can apply after three years of residency in the country. A complete waiver of the residency clause will be possible under certain conditions.

Marriage: The special residency clause regulations affect married couples especially. A non-national married to a Luxembourg national for at least three years will be able to apply for citizenship after just three years. If the couple has a child of Luxembourg nationality together, the residency clause is omitted. Children with a Luxembourg parent, or parents adopting a Luxembourg child will also be given easier access

On top of the language and residency requirements, all applicants need to attend civics courses about Luxembourg history and the country's political system.

The 2008 law which granted easy access to citizenship for those being able to trace their heritage back to a direct relative with Luxembourg nationality to January 1, 1900, will be upheld until December 2018.

After this date applicants with Luxembourg heritage will need to pass a language test and attend civics courses.

The law proposal also foresees that criteria are tightened in regards to criminal convictions. While the current law states that nationality can be refused to anyone who spent a year in prison, this is lowered to six months or twelve months suspended sentence.

Applicants will be able to re-apply 10 years after serving their sentence.

The bill has been approved by the Council of Ministers and will now move into the next stages of approval, including a parliamentary vote.